Jeffrey Wayne King (born December 26, 1964) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who played for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Career

King graduated from Rampart High School in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

in 1983. He was drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in the 1986 June Amateur Draft, after playing college ball at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He played his 1987–88 seasons with the Eastern Leagues

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 a ...

before being promoted to Pittsburgh. King was a key part of the Pirates Division Championship teams of 1990, 1991, and 1992, batting 6th right after

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

Andy Van Slyke Andrew James Van Slyke (born December 21, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. Career Van Slyke earned All-American honors in baseball as a senior at New Hartford Central High school in New Hartford, New York. ...

and

Bobby Bonilla Roberto Martin Antonio Bonilla (, born February 23, 1963) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001. Bonilla was one of the Major League's best batters a ...

. He was plagued by back injuries which forced Bonilla to play third base during the 1990 NLCS. King was then traded after a career-best 1996 season to Kansas City with

Jay Bell Jay Stuart Bell (born December 11, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and former manager of the Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Southern League. He played for the Cleveland Indians (1986–88), Pittsburgh Pirates (1989� ...

for

Joe Randa Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

. In two full seasons with the Royals, he hit 28 and 24 home runs. King was the Royals regular first baseman at the beginning of the 1999 season, but, bothered by back problems, he abruptly announced his retirement on May 23, 1999, two days after going 1–4 against the Texas Rangers. Sportswriter

Joe Posnanski Joe Posnanski (; nicknamed "Poz" and "Joe Po"; born January 8, 1967) is an American sports journalist. A former senior columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'' (where he wrote the blog Curiously Long Posts) and columnist for ''The Kansas City Star'', ...

, who covered King when Posnanski worked for the ''Kansas City Star'', reported that King disliked baseball so much that he retired the day after his pension from Major League Baseball fully vested. King was the third player—the first two being

Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch", "Mac" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a mem ...

and

Andre Dawson Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954), nicknamed "The Hawk" and "Awesome Dawson", is an American former professional baseball player and inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different te ...

—to hit two home runs in the same inning twice during his career. On August 8, 1995, he hit two home runs in the second inning of the Pirates' 9–5 victory over the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 un ...

. On April 30, 1996, he repeated this feat, this time in the fourth inning of the Pirates' 10–7 victory over the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Cinergy Field Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States that was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1970 Major League Baseball season, 1970 throug ...

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

and

Edwin Encarnación Edwin Elpidio Encarnación (born January 7, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball designated hitter, third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland ...

would later accomplish this feat. King finished his career with a .256 batting average and 154 home runs in 1,201 games.

References

External links

The 100 Greatest Royals of All-Time- #69 Jeff King
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Jeff Baseball players from Indiana Pittsburgh Pirates players Kansas City Royals players 1964 births Living people Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players Sportspeople from Colorado Springs, Colorado People from Marion, Indiana Prince William Pirates players Harrisburg Senators players Salem Buccaneers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players All-American college baseball players Mat-Su Miners players